UH Manoa urged to Move with Aloha

“We have lots of areas where we have lots of pedestrians, bicyclists, skateboarders, people on all different kinds of ways to move around,” said Crysttal Steiner, the transportation demand coordinator at UH Mānoa. “And we need to get along and be respectful and careful with each other.”

“You know, kind of pay attention to the other people around, and maybe get off your bicycle or skateboard so you don’t run into someone,” agreed UH Mānoa graduate student Tom Robinson. “It is really about being considerate to everyone on campus.”

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Band drumline took part in the Move with Aloha parade.

A number of organizations on campus co-sponsored the Move with Aloha Parade in the fall 2013 semester to raise campus awareness. Students say it is an important message.

“It does need to be delivered,” said UH Mānoa student Vernon Rayo. “It just happened today, where I was startled by a skateboarder.”

“It is really good because it is safe for them and for us,” said fellow student Ashley Belen. “So if they pass by us, they would stop, so we don’t get injured.”

It is not just about pedestrians possibly getting struck. There are also concerns of cars hitting bicyclists and skateboarders while on campus or around campus.

“We just want to make sure everybody is safe but this is also really part of a bigger initiative to really find a way to green our transportation here,” said UH Mānoa Chancellor Tom Apple.

Forty-three percent of the students, faculty and staff live within three miles of the Mānoa campus, and Steiner say that is a very commutable distance by bus, bike or foot.

“You know, it is really good for your health. It’s great for the environment. It helps us with parking problems. There’s just so many good reasons why people should do that and we want to encourage it very much, but we also, once we get here, and particularly when it is congested, we just need to be careful.”